The Junior Academy squad, made up of the club’s under-17/18s, got off to a winning start in their LV Cup campaign, with a hard fought victory against the visitors from Suffolk.
Both sides battled for supremacy in the first fifteen minutes with the majority of the play taking place between the two 10m lines. A chipped kick from Scottish appeared to have been spilled by the Bury winger but the referee waved play on and from the ensuing attack the opposition scored out wide. 0-5 to the visitors.
The Scottish boys remained patient and with 21 minutes on the clock had their first penetrating attack. A scrum was turned over and scrum half Tom made a quick break and gave a perfectly timed pass to centre Daniel. Daniel made the line but was held up by spirited defence.
However, a second break, this time started by a great rip from second row Matas allowed Fraser and Timi to take play well into the opposition 22. When the ball recycled, Matas was on hand to finish off the move that he had started. The extra two points were added and the Scottish team moved into a 7-5 lead.
Scottish then went on to dominate the next period of play. Another turnover from Matas gave scrum half Tom the chance to pick up the ball and sprint clear of three defenders, before rounding the full-back for a great score. 14-5 to Scottish at half time.
The Scottish boys got off to a great start in the second half. With the first play, Scottish attacked left and prop Tuli was on hand to finish off, driving through the defenders to touch down. 19-5 to Scottish.
13 minutes into the half the Scottish boys moved into a convincing lead when Dan made another break. He fed to Timi who kept the move alive with some great footwork. Spinning the ball to the right, David finished off the attack with a neat dummy to score on the wing. 24-5 to Scottish.
With just eleven minutes remaining, Bury managed to finish off a good attack to bring the score back to 24-12. This could have led to a nervous finish for Scottish but the home team finished off the match in style. A well won line out by Toby, followed by a strong driving maul, put Scottish back in control. Ali broke and drove forward and the ball was then moved wide. Good handling by the backs saw Dan cap a fine game with the final try. Fraser added the points to round off the scoring.
The team now look forward to two further LV Cup group games against Ealing and Westcliff.
Young Lions – Forwards
Doug McLaughlin; Omar Pellew; Max Gallagher; Tuli Mvubu; Sam Bastille; Matas Jurevicius; Toby Warburton; Ali McLaughlin; Bola Docemo; Sol Usher; Miles Wakeling; Tom Kane (Capt.).
Young Lions – Backs
Tom Firth; Fraser Syme; Gary Hardy; Daniel Masters; Taino Goveia; Josh Ferguson; David Semu; Timi Olopade; Harith Hawas.
